{"id":1458,"date":"2020-10-02T05:10:45","date_gmt":"2020-10-02T04:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1458"},"modified":"2020-10-03T00:55:52","modified_gmt":"2020-10-02T23:55:52","slug":"double-jeopardy-at-anfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1458","title":{"rendered":"Double Jeopardy at Anfield"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Figure 1: A study in Gunner concentration during the penalty shoot-out. From Sky Sports <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our second visit to Anfield repeated two sequential\nmatches at that recently inauspicious venue within 4 days that last took place in\nJanuary 2007 when we played an FA Cup tie and a League Cup quarter final\nwinning the former 3-1 and the latter 6-3 during an era when the relative\nrelationship between the two clubs was quite different to today\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Off the back of our 1-3 reverse on Monday\nin a PL match in which our hard-working team were given a clear demonstration\nof the gap in class with the champions, we returned to Liverpool hoping for a\nbetter performance and a better result in this Carabao-sponsored League Cup 4th<\/sup>\nround tie. As in 2007 and in our usual approach to the early rounds of this competition,\nthe team for the second of our Anfield challenges saw significant alterations\nfrom the earlier game. In his fine preview, bt8 outlined our schizophrenic\nrelationship with this competition which we have only won twice and not since 1993\nwhen Tony Adams dropped our match-winner Steve Morrow fracturing his arm. We\nhave, however, reached two finals in the interim but failed to shine in both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As predicted, Mikel selected a mixture of\nyouth and experience, sticking with his first-choice keeper, Bernd Leno but\npulled a surprise with a back four of Cedric (first start of the season), Holding\n(perhaps to lay the ghosts of the Mane-induced trauma last Monday), Gabriel and\nKolasinac (shudder, I thought he was on his way to Germany). However, it gave\nthe option of playing a back three with Cedric and Saka as wing backs. Or indeed\nboth, our Mikel does love in-match metamorphoses. This time, he elected to\nmatch up to Liverpool\u2019s customary midfield three with Willock, Ceballos, Xhaka\nand Saka. Pepe and Nketiah were hopefully going to offer a dynamic duo up\nfront. The big question pre-match was where Saka, on the day he received his\nfirst international call-up, was going to play \u2013 wing back, midfield or wide\nleft attacker \u2013 or all three? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Klopp selected Salah, van Dijk, Jota and\nMilner along with fringe players. Nonetheless, both teams predominantly comprised\nthe players who had played in the previous round. Could we repeat the high\nscoring performance we produced at Anfield at the same stage of this\ncompetition last season?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xhaka\u2019s complete redemption was confirmed\nas he led the team out as captain. The Arsenal started with four at the back\nwith Kolasinac at left back facing Salah (horrors!), Saka on the left of midfield,\nWillock on the right of midfield, both driving forward when in possession and\nPepe to the left of Nketiah up front. 4-4-2! Liverpool lined up in their usual\n4-3-3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early knockings saw much energy from both\nsides but little in the way of constructive passages of play until the seventh\nminute when we should have scored! Pepe penetrating Liverpool\u2019s high line cut the\nball back to Willock who touched it on to Nketiah on the right of the Liverpool\n6-yard box. Sadly, his first touch was poor allowing the diving keeper to push the\nball away and the chance was gone. Nketiah should just have hit the damn thing!\nA minute later Saka and Willock created an overlap in the box for Cedric but\nhis touch back to Willock was poor and was cut out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that early Arsenal flurry, Liverpool\nthen had a brace of corners that led to a free run into the box for Jota. Jota\u2019s\ncut back reached a Scouser who fired the ball wide of Leno\u2019s right-hand post.\nJota then floored Ceballos with a push to the back of his head (no card) then\nPepe was brought down as he broke through by Minamino who was carded.  From the free-kick Holding bundled the ball\ninto the opposition net but the ref had already blown for a push. A multiplayer\nLiverpool drive on the right was nicely snuffed out by Gabriel, Kolasinac and\nXhaka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the first quarter ended, Saka, Willock\nand our forwards were doing a great job harrying the Liverpool back-line. Saka\nand Willock were prominent in driving at the opposition defence. The former in\nparticular was forcing Liverpool defenders to resort to fouls, not always\nregistered by Kevin Friend \u2013 never a friend of ours. We looked compact when\nLiverpool had possession with everyone behind the ball, pressing the ball\ncarrier and closing down options and channels. The Arsenal were generally playing\nout of Liverpool\u2019s high press well, releasing runners on the break and were\nclearly the better side at this stage looking much more dangerous. Yet there is\nalways scope for individual error. Just after Carragher had praised The Arsenal\npassing out from the back, in the 33rd<\/sup> minute as we passed our way\nforward on our left Liverpool\u2019s press caused Xhaka to loft a ball towards Kolasinac\nwho headed the ball straight to Jota inside our box. Fortunately Holding\nswiftly got a foot in to dispossess him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the half came towards its last five\nminutes, Liverpool had been the more dominant and pushed us back for five\nminutes but a sweet ball from Ceballos from just inside our half, found Saka\nrunning through. Sadly, he was just offside. One hoped that sooner or later one\nof those through balls to runners would come off.  49% of our attacks were on our left and 33% on\nour right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the half drew to a close Ceballos\nbrought Jota down outside the right edge of our box. Of course, Jota fell into\nthe area and a posse of Scousers tried to confuse the ref with deviant\ngeometry. Gabriel headed the free kick clear only for it to be lobbed back in\nby Williams. Jota headed the cross goal-wards from our right prompting a full-stretch\nsave by Leno but much like his save on Monday that landed at Mane\u2019s feet, the palmed\nball went straight to Minamino running into the 6-yard box, unmarked, 4-yards\nout. Minamino\u2019s side-footed effort rattled off our cross-bar. Lucky Arsenal,\nbut you\u2019re no Mane, son! In added-time another Liverpool corner was punched\naway by Leno but the ball returned from our left found Jota on the right of our\nbox. His cross to the far post was headed past the far post by van Dijk and\nthen the half-time whistle sounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Arsenal had looked comfortable for most\nof the half and our pressing and runners had caused Liverpool problems but\nNketiah had fluffed our only real chance with his poor first touch. Liverpool\nhad had a flurry just before half-time when we had to rely on Lady Luck and we\ncould have been made to regret not making and taking more chances with our\nforays forward. The stats showed we had only had 2 attempts with none on target\nto Liverpool\u2019s 6 attempts and 2 on target. Nonetheless this was one of our\nbetter halfs at Anfield and it\u2019s still all to play for!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HT: 0 \u2013 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liverpool kicked off the second half without\neither coach making any substitutions. An early Liverpool free kick from our\nright saw Gruic head over. Impressive bursts of speed from Eddie twice forced\nAdrian to kick the ball into touch but our subsequent moves came to naught.\nXhaka who had just been spoken to for a foul on Jota, then picked up a silly\nyellow for dragging Gruic back as he moved towards our half. Leno then made a\nsuperb reaction save low to his right to stop van Dijk scoring when he flicked\non a knock down from a corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first 10 minutes of the half saw\nLiverpool much more dominant. Our only effort was a tame Pepe shot from the\nedge of the box. A much more threatening Jota shot from our right was deflected\npast Leno\u2019s left-hand post. Liverpool were now looked the more dangerous team.\nAs the hour approached, Leno had to dive low to his left to stop a Gruic shot\nfrom the edge of our box sneaking inside his post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the hour, van Dijk and Salah were\nreplaced by Gomez and Origi. Jota lost his markers to get on the end of a long\nball which he struck firmly from the edge of the box only to see a Leno dive\npush it wide. From the corner, Leno had to stretch backwards to stop a Gruic header\nfrom looping under the bar. Paul Merson thought that was a \u2018worldie\u2019! Liverpool\ncorners demonstrated their aerial superiority though Gabriel dealt well with\nanything coming his way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we reached the last quarter, Ceballos\nwas replaced by Elneny. A beautiful high ball from Cedric on the right found\nSaka in the box but a Liverpool defender dived in to clear it. From a short\ncorner  routine, Pepe crossed for Holding\nto head goal-wards from 6 yards but his fine effort was saved by Adrian. Once\nagain Nketiah pressure caused the Liverpool keeper to kick for touch. Our\nfriend Kevin then ignored a Liverpool hand ball which led to a Gruic shot, deflected\nfor a throw. On 75 minutes, Wijnaldum replaced Jota. Pepe was then clipped by\nWilson in the centre circle as he broke away and the Scouser was carded.  \u201cOne of those fouls that his manager will be\npleased with!\u201d said Carragher. Nketiah then headed wide from a Willock cross\nfrom the right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 80 minutes Saka developed cramp\nstretching to tackle a Liverpool player wide on our left. Lacazette then replaced\nNketiah. A nice run by Pepe led to him shooting wide after a Saka cross was cleared.\nLiverpool then built a nice series of passes ending in a Williams shot straight\nat Leno. Saka went down again with cramp on 85 minutes and was replaced by Maitland-Niles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Cedric long ball found Pepe who was\ncalled offside but the TV lateral view suggested the call was extremely\nmarginal. An unfortunate bounce led to a Maitland-Niles handball halfway inside\nour half on our left. The cross from the free-kick was unnecessarily cleared\nfor a corner by the same player. It felt like the fickle finger of fate was\npointing but we dealt with the corner well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In three added minutes, Willock ran onto a\nball into the Liverpool box. Milner dived at his feet and touched the ball away\nwith his hand. Our friend Kevin wasn\u2019t interested and carded Cedric for his\nprotest. Liverpool then surged forwards and a Milner cross was fired wide as the\ngame reached its end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FT: 0 \u2013 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liverpool had dominated most of the second\nhalf and worked Leno several times but The Arsenal defence had performed well\nand we had worked our way more into the match in its last quarter. The Arsenal had\nshaded the first half but Liverpool had been the better team in the second. But\nas the famous notice says, \u201cThis is Anfield\u201d. There was nothing between the\nteams so a penalty shoot-out was inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Penalties<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milner:                 1 \u2013 0 (high right followed by a\nfinger wag towards The Arsenal players)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacazette<\/strong>:            1 \u2013 1 <\/strong>(low\nto his left sending Adrian the wrong way)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wijnadum:          2 \u2013 1 (high right into the roof of the\nnet \u2013 no chance for Leno)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cedric<\/strong>:                 2 \u2013 2<\/strong>\n(to his right, escaping the fingers of Adrian)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minamino:           3 \u2013 2 (high to his right, Leno diving\nthe wrong way)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elneny<\/strong>:                 3 \u2013 2 (leftish but saved by Adrian \u2013 nice height for the keeper)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Origi:                   3 \u2013 2 (leftish but saved by\nLeno \u2013 nice height for the keeper)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maitland-Niles<\/strong>    3 \u2013 3<\/strong> (jogged up\nslowly, sent the keeper the wrong way \u2013 Mr Cool!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jones:                  4 \u2013 3 (low into the corner\nbeyond Leno) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pepe<\/strong>:                   4 \u2013 4<\/strong>\n(low into the corner with Adrian going the wrong way)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson:                4 \u2013 4 (right but well saved by\nLeno diving to his left)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willock<\/strong>:               5 \u2013 4<\/strong>\n(low and hard to his right, squirming under Adrian)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Figure 2: Gunner delight as Joe Willock’s shot squirms under Adrian. From Sky Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Well done lads! That is well-deserved revenge for our undeserved defeat on penalties a year ago. Bernd was awarded the Man of the Match award for his 7 saves during the game (plus two in the penalty shoot-out). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was a much better performance than was\nproduced in Monday\u2019s game. We defended well and looked well organised, our\nmidfield players were much more involved in the game both with and without the\nball playing the ball forward at every opportunity and supporting our forwards\nwho in turn defended from the front, pressed high and broke quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leno was outstanding and kept us in the\ngame with several saves as well as being cool and efficient in the shoot-out.\nCedric was solid and got forward well delivering several excellent through\nballs. Holding and Gabriel blended well as a centre-back pair and effectively\nblocked the centre to the Liverpool attack. Kolasinac made one rick but Salah\nwas never a threat. Ceballos and Xhaka had one of their best games. They\ndefended well when required, made themselves available when we were playing out\nof defence, turned well and played several excellent through balls. Willock and\nSaka both had outstanding performances and broke forward to support the\nforwards at every opportunity while always supporting the fullbacks when out of\npossession. Nketiah and Pepe worked their socks off up front, pressing\nconstantly, tracking back when needed and breaking at speed. Elneny added\nenergy when he came on for Ceballos and was gutted by his penalty. Lacazette\nworked hard during his cameo and took his penalty with aplomb while\nMaitland-Niles was again Mr Cool taking his penalty and had a smile as wide as\nAnfield as he jogged back to the centre circle. Top marks all round, especially\nfor MA8 for his team selection and tactics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post-match, Mikel was very happy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m really happy with the performance. I think the boys were exceptional. We corrected a few things from last Monday and the way we played against this team, I think, was superb. We controlled so many more things that they tried to do much better (and) some of the spaces that they like to attack. We competed much better in the second and third balls, (and) some of the duels. The level of aggression that we had, as well, the way we pressed them really, really high and put them under a lot of pressure, was exceptional, I think. (Bernd Leno) was really good. We had some problems on the set pieces and second and third phases and they had some chances there. We had some open chances as well and when we needed Bernd, we had him. You need top individual performances to win here at Anfield and this is what we had tonight!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the third time we\u2019ve played in the last eight weeks, I think, against the best team in Europe, in my opinion, and to come here to Anfield and play with the determination and courage that we\u2019ve done tonight, I think is a big step for the team. I tell them that after Monday, we\u2019ve made a big step forward, that we have a lot of things to learn from an exceptional team but we are on the right path, I think. I keep saying that still the gap towards them is big but the fact that the team, the players believe all the time that we play against them that we can beat them and we will keep improving to try to reach their level.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We want to take every competition as an opportunity to win a trophy and we have to do that with the club that we represent and we will try to go game by game.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Jaimie Redknapp has kindly drawn us against\nManchester City at the new home of football in the week commencing December 21st<\/sup>\nand we are still on course for four trophies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a difference a year makes!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our second visit to Anfield repeated two sequential matches at that recently inauspicious venue within 4 days that last took place in January 2007 when we played an FA Cup tie and a League Cup quarter final winning the former 3-1 and the latter 6-3 during an era when the relative relationship between the two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1458"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1474,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions\/1474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}